Shloka 39
दण्डधारवधः | The Slaying of Daṇḍadhāra
ततः समागमो घोरो बभूव सहसा तयो: । यथा देवासुरे युद्धे वृत्रवासवयोरिव,फिर तो देवासुर-संग्राममें वृत्रासुर और इन्द्रके समान उन दोनों वीरोंमें सहसा घोर युद्ध छिड़ गया
tataḥ samāgamo ghoro babhūva sahasā tayoḥ | yathā devāsure yuddhe vṛtravāsavayor iva ||
Then, all at once, a dreadful clash erupted between those two warriors—like the battle of gods and demons, as if it were the combat between Vṛtra and Vāsava (Indra). The narration underscores the terrifying scale of their encounter, framing human warfare in the Mahābhārata as echoing cosmic conflict and its moral gravity.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
By likening the warriors’ clash to the cosmic Deva–Asura battle (Vṛtra vs. Indra), the verse highlights how human conflict can assume world-shaking intensity and moral weight; it cautions that war is not merely personal rivalry but a force with far-reaching ethical consequences.
Sañjaya reports that a sudden and terrifying battle breaks out between two principal fighters, and he amplifies its ferocity through a mythic comparison: it resembles the legendary combat between Vṛtra and Indra in the Devasura war.